


EXEC_EROS=FLIPSPHERE

by Bondmaiden



Series: Distant Worlds AU - Ar Tonelico [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ar Tonelico, Bokushi Akashi, Gunslinger Aomine, M/M, Reyvateil Kuroko, Scythe Dancer Akashi, Sword Master Kise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-23 03:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2531645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bondmaiden/pseuds/Bondmaiden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Traveling with Akashi, Kuroko learns to trust him as a partner: By letting Akashi Dive into his heart.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <i>Closing his eyes, Kuroko exhales. “Yes, Akashi-kun. Please, come inside me.” </i>
  </p>
</blockquote>
            </blockquote>





	EXEC_EROS=FLIPSPHERE

**Author's Note:**

> _In case you don’t know what ‘volcano massages’ are… well, let’s just say that certain… things are… properly massaged until other… things come out. And also sometimes I’ll be repeating certain information you’ve already seen in previous chapters about terminologies so that it refreshes your knowledge on it. Also, thanks so much to[manaorin](www.manaorin.tumblr.com) for making these [two](http://manaorin.tumblr.com/post/101070002110/tonelico-au-2) [beautiful](http://manaorin.tumblr.com/post/100796744465/strangulated-harlots-artonelico-au-fic) arts for the fic! ;u; much appreciated! hopefully this instalment is enjoyable!_

“You tricked me.”

“You passed out; never woke up even after I tried to make you. We don’t have time to waste if you want to get to Rakuzan urgently. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with my arrangement since we’re already en-route to SHIN-Juku, almost to the front gates.”

The creasing scowl on Kuroko’s face deepens, marred only by the jagged steps of their horse treading downhill. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?” he gripes softly, letting the rest of his words drown out. With his back pressed against Akashi’s chest, the balmy warmth emanating through layers of clothing separating them, Kuroko doesn’t see the half-smile painted on the redhead’s lips at the accusation. Only the irritation itches his beating heart, twitching through his fingertips. “You planned to have me pass out after harassing me so I’ll be an open target to your kidnapping. This isn’t what we discussed last night, Akashi-kun.”

“I’m incapable of kidnapping, Kuroko, even if you’re the most helpless Reyvateil I’ve ever seen,” Akashi says, light. His hands keep a steady grip on the leather reins chaining a snow white steed, easily manoeuvring the beast around steep paths of knotty rocks and jagged terrains. With both his arms surrounding Kuroko, however, the teen shifts uneasily in his unintentional embrace. Akashi remains a solid barrier behind him, unmoving even at his show of discomfort. “You were the one who came to Kanagawa to find and hire us mercenaries. I just honoured your request even though I’m putting myself at a disadvantage by leaving my team behind.” 

“Then you should’ve taken them with you.” Kuroko frowns disapprovingly. “Three is better than one, you know. I carry more than enough with me to pay everyone equally after the journey.”

His chastising elicits a hearty chuckle from his companion, followed by a teasing drawl. “Yes, I know. But someone’s life can’t easily be measured in riches, Kuroko,” Akashi says, shaking his head wryly. “Aomine and Kise are physically adults but they’re as irrational as teens. Such a large bounty only clouds their judgment. They don’t understand the risk of your request—I do.”

Akashi’s rich voice and breath tickles his ear. It’s uncomfortable, bordering on _suffocating_. He talks like he knows the frayed ends from the jumpy starts, like he’s the only one Kuroko seeks all along, like he’s the only hand daring to whisk Kuroko to Rakuzan. Oddly enough, Akashi offers no signs of talking about himself—his world solely revolves around Kuroko and his duty to see him there, placing Kuroko on the pedestal in the centre of his universe. 

Perhaps money is Akashi’s motivating factor. 

Dwelling on it wouldn’t do him any good. Bitterly replaying his staggering defeat to pleasure a few hours earlier, Kuroko tosses his gaze elsewhere for distraction. The air is moist with the earthy scent of dewy pine trees, pricked with floral notes from the scattered shrubs littering their path. Fat white clouds hang overhead on a blue background, following their descent like nature’s own bodyguards. He can’t recognise this foreign landscape; it’s too different from his hike upwards to snowy Kanagawa, so where exactly are they?

As if he senses the need to answer something, Akashi nudges Kuroko in the side and frees a hand to gesture at a passing deer, its sharp antlers glinting menacingly in the sunlight. “You don’t see them very often if you take the normal road to SHIN-Juku,” he explains. “Neo-Tokyo deers aren’t fond of the cold weather on the other side of the hill so they seek refuge here. Since we have Yukimaru, we can easily go down the steep path—it’s a lot quicker this way.”

“Yukimaru?”

“Yes. This horse we’re riding on is my Yukimaru.” On cue, the horse harrumphs like it understands its master, trotting along the misshapen road. “My traveling companion I made before I met Aomine and Kise. If there’s anyone who won’t disappoint me, it’s Yukimaru for sure.”

Then, they fall into a hushed silence.

With every unsteady rocking from their uncoordinated body movements, Akashi’s chin bumps with the top of Kuroko’s head. Something about it shouldn’t feel oddly intimate; the way he seems to wrap around Kuroko like second skin is comforting, how he talks is like they're fond familiars instead of two-day strangers. For a gritty mercenary ushering death with his scythes, Akashi resembles nothing like the typical bulks of brawn Kuroko’s seen in the taverns of underground Shibuya when he was on his own journey. 

Is Akashi coddling him? 

Mercenaries don’t coddle people. 

Especially if they know he’s a Reyvateil. Mercenaries don’t treat them nicely; they’re notorious for demeaning their existences, dubbing them as singing war dolls. Imayoshi’s 6D Protocol exists to protect the rights of Reyvateils like him, sheltering unfortunate ones all over Neo-Tokyo from being exploited for their abilities. Captured rule-breakers get five years in jail and are stripped from their mercenary license, but Kuroko knows plenty of them still run around freely all over the world, under the guise of being a considerate partner to their Reyvateil customers. 

Taken against the Reyvateils’ will, the mercenaries forced them into Dives to heighten their output in battles. Some would call them savages; other would laugh it off and walk away. Their crimes go unreported out of fear. To them, Reyvateils don’t have a choice to begin with: They’re only good for fighting. And speaking of fighting…

“I’m sorry I couldn’t assist your battles earlier when I was out cold. I’ll do my best to make up for it.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t my intention to make you fight at all.” The older mercenary shakes his head, looking down to grace Kuroko with a crooked smile and a strange light in his blood red eyes. “In fact, I’d rather if you stay out of it to make my job easier.”

Kuroko blinks. How… strange. Mercenaries would never pass up the opportunity to use a Reyvateil in battle, given the odds of their victory only increasing in their favour. Akashi’s reluctance unsettles him, making him nervously shift on the horse, brushing up along the lenient curve of Akashi’s slender neck, falling into place just right in his arms. “But I’m a Reyvateil—I’ve promised to lend you my assistance in battles. It’s not subpar, even if I’m not the best Reyvateil you’ve partnered with.”

Akashi sighs heavily at his resistance. He reaches up to press a finger against Kuroko’s lips, effectively silencing his one-sided protests. “Everything’s already in my calculation, Kuroko. You don’t need to fight at all. If you follow what I say, then everything will proceed as I imagined it should be.”

What exactly _has_ he imagined? 

Kuroko could only whip up a blank. After inserting a Grathnode Crystal into him last night, Akashi immediately launched into making explicit detail of their journey from Kanagawa to SHIN-Juku—somewhere along the way, Kuroko lost track of their conversation when Akashi’s hand feathered along his back to ease the strain of the Grathnode installation, and Kuroko’s reduced to a mush lulled into a deep slumber that night. Never once did Akashi rouse him from his sleep, and he wakes up bathed by sunlight in a nest of blankets carefully tucked around him. 

The frown on Kuroko’s face returns. This just _can’t_ be it.

“Then, at the very least… Dive into me, Akashi-kun.”

“Dive into you?” Akashi echoes. With an octave higher, the sentence would’ve bordered on mockery. “Why? Don’t you have any faith in me to protect you?”

“No, you’re wrong.” Craning his neck up, he meets Akashi’s downcast eyes. A quiet smile travels across his lips. “I know you’re strong enough to protect me, but I want to protect you too. If things don’t go according to your plans and we end up in a fight, I don’t want to be the one weighing you down. Please, Dive into me and build a new Song Magic so I can sing for you.”

“Is that so?” Akashi laughs under his breath. “Fair enough. Then with your consent, allow me to Dive into you when we reach SHIN-Juku, Kuroko. I’m counting on you.”

Excitement carefully trimmed out of his voice, Kuroko musters a solemn, “Yes, thank you, Akashi-kun,” and lowers his head again, emotions running high.

His first Dive, and it would be with a perfect stranger. 

To a Reyvateil, a Dive is something intimate, something only enacted with a trustworthy partner who’s dedicated to take care of him, to put his life on the line just to defend his Reyvateil—to defend Kuroko to his last choke of blood. Letting Akashi into his mind, his thoughts, his secrets, letting the redhead probe around to evoke feelings from the deepest core of his biofluid body, it’s humiliating—

—but there’s no time for sentimental values; it’s either now or perish tomorrow.

The lump in Kuroko’s throat grows at the acidic reality and he shakes off those thoughts. 

Akashi couldn’t be one of them. Akashi wouldn’t hurt him. The hostesses in Shibuya recommended their efficient services for a reason—the Traffic Light Trio, they comically dubbed them; “ _Search for some men with red, yellow, and blue hair, they’re the reliable guys you need. The blue light got me laid, if you know what I mean,”_ one of them added with a saucy wink. 

If reliable equals to trustworthy, then he’d best not doubt his only chance to get to Rakuzan. Maybe they just needed a solid jostling to get their partnership going.

* * *

>   
> **Dive, PT II:** _Diving is often done to create new Song Magic for the Reyvateil. The higher the level of a Dive, the stronger the Song Magic will be. The Diver will have to resolve a problem in each level presented by the Reyvateil; the higher the level, the tougher the problem. These problems can sometimes relate to their internal mind, whether it is about the Reyvateil’s past or feelings. Sometimes, a Diver may not be capable enough to trigger a change in the Reyvateil’s Cosmosphere. In this case, the Diver will have to take action outside the Cosmosphere (meaning: reality) to make a change. Changes occuring within the Reyvateil’s Cosmosphere will affect the Reyvateil directly; they will discreetly adopt some habits formed in their Cosmosphere, or even change their thoughts, depending on what happened in the Cosmosphere._
> 
> **Song Magic:** _Reyvateils fight using Song Magics crafted from their emotions during Dives. The deeper the Diver dives into a Reyvateil, the stronger the Song Magic will be._
> 
> **Dive Shops:** _Shops which are approved by the government to have Dive Machines for Dives to take place. Shopkeepers will watch over the Diving process, monitoring the H-waves through computer screens, and they can forcefully eject the Diver and the Reyvateil for safety if the H-wave contamination grows deeper._  
> 

* * *

This isn’t the kind of solid jostling Kuroko’s searching for though. 

Akashi already has one hand over his face, hiding what seems to be the tightest expression Kuroko’s ever seen on him. Pained, if one could label it—pained from the permanent stupidity of his team mates, of course. “I’ve specifically instructed you two not to interfere with this quest. Why do you have to go against my orders? Do you have a certain death wish I can grant?”

SHIN-Juku greeted their arrival with flashy red lights and blinking neon signs, the spicy smell of roadside food vendors tempting Kuroko’s tastebuds, gritty gravels under their feet crunching with every step. LED boards twinkle from every corner announcing various shop goods and services for passersby to ogle: _Saki Groceries, Princess Cloche Boutique, Frelia Electronics,_ and even _Casty’s Volcano Massage_ sitting right in the neck of the road. Akashi, of course, was quick to drag him away from the sultry-looking interior with their staple display girls lounging seductively at the front. 

Where the cobblestones paved a road uphill, they walked together—or at least their definition of ‘walking together’ was Akashi having a tight grip around Kuroko’s wrist lest the teen wanders around in fascination. With surprising familiarity, the redhead slipped in and out of dingy alleyways, wandering red eyes in search of a target, and it lies in the form of a fuzzily lit shop furbished with gaudy blue interiors and sleeping pods within. 

A Dive Shop. 

And that shop had none other than—

“Whoa—hey, easy, Akashicchi!” Kise fumbles for words as Aomine struggles to tack a band-aid over the cut on his cheek. “W-We thought about it real hard and kinda realised you’re probably trying to protect us—“

“—and we don’t need protecting because we’re not babies,” Aomine snorts, rolling his eyes. With a practised flick of his wrist, he sends the emptied box of band-aid sailing through the air right into a trashcan before he continues, “Look, Akashi, we’re mercenaries. We fought flying hill wyverns, gigantic desert golems, tiny as fuck ice fairies—Kise got toasted by a fire-breathing dragon two months ago, and look,” he slaps a hand on Kise’s forehead and the blond wails automatically, “The idiot’s still intact!”

“That’s so mean, Aominecchi!”

Akashi, however, isn’t impressed. Neither are the owner and his assistant, eyeing the duo who made themselves at home in the shop with great disdain. Arms crossed, he rests his back against one of the many vertically-installed sleeping pods and begins his customary lecture. 

“First of all, how did you two get here?”

Always quick with his lips, the gunslinger leaps out with an excuse. “We scaled down the hill—uh,” Aomine scratches his cheek, tapping his foot on the floor like he’s coming up with a thousand and one excuses in his head to feed Akashi; “Sort of came across a nest of minotaurs, but we slew them all. They had this giant chest they were hiding and we looted from them.”

Kuroko doesn’t miss how Kise’s impressive broadsword, tucked in by his side, is crusted with dried blood, its scabbard tossed over an empty table. Cargo pants folded over, haphazardly bandaged calves peek from underneath the coarse material, wrapping his legs all the way down to his ankle-fitted boots. Aomine shows some impressive marks on his knuckles too, gnashed teeth eating up his face with the broad, twitching grin he forces through the pain. 

While it doesn’t seem like a lie, neither their pockets nor their coin bags are jingling with coins. 

Akashi looks like he’s seen better mimes spewing delicate lies to him that are more believable than Aomine’s. “There, you have your riches,” he says, almost too flippantly. “If you must know, I’m not doing this for the money. You may take my part of the rewards, if you want to. I have a duty to see through.”

“We’re not trying to stop you, Akashicchi, but we just want to help you!” Kise reasons, wringing his hands—then he flinches, flexing his bicep experimentally. He must’ve pulled some muscles with all the sword-swinging he’s done, Kuroko thinks, but Kise tries to put it behind him casually when he turns to look at Akashi. “C’mon, let us go too! We can take care of ourselves, right Aominecchi? We’re a team!”

His persistent pleading only provokes a deep sigh from the redhead. Shaking his head, Akashi walks away from the pod and deposits a few coins to the outstretched palm of the shopkeeper, who’s been impatiently mumbling curses deep in his throat. Straightening his coat, Akashi looks around and beckons Kuroko over. “Fine, do as you two please—I know this isn’t going anywhere and I’m only wasting my time if I keep up with your reasonings. Owner, please prepare us two for a Dive.”

Kuroko plods over quietly, taking in how the shopkeeper and his assistant begin to hook up some thigh-sized wires to two sets of pods, with many little ratlike cables strewn all over the floor. Diving looks scary—feels foreign to him despite being a Reyvateil, but someone he trusts is doing it with him. Secretly, Kuroko glances from the corner of his eyes. Akashi, methodical as always, folds his mechanical scythe and its lesser counterparts into a perfect fit, setting it aside; he ignores how Aomine and Kise are crowing over their victory, seemingly focused on his task.

Shaking his head, Kuroko tries not to laugh. “Akashi-kun, you’re surprisingly thoughtful to your friends.”

“Even if I stop them, they’d find other ridiculous ways to tag along,” says the redhead musingly, mouth quirking into a wry smile. Kuroko thinks it’s a better look for him, a better improvement than the frown and glower he wears all the time. “I’ll just let them do as they want. Now come, Kuroko, I need to Dive into you.”

His heart races. It’s his duty as a Reyvateil: He’ll protect Akashi, he’ll be his partner—not the perfect partner Akashi may have had, but they’re getting somewhere now, and they’re getting there together.

Closing his eyes, Kuroko exhales. “Yes, Akashi-kun. Please, come inside me.” 

He doesn’t hide the smile on his lips.

* * *

>   
> **Mind Guardian:** _Mind Guardians will act as the overseer and watch over the Diver and his actions. Depending on the type of Mind Guardian created by the Reyvateil’s mind, the Mind Guardian may interfere with the Diver’s actions or help the Diver to achieve his objective. Mind Guardians are often created based on someone or something the Reyvateil deems important. The Mind Guardian will act as how the Reyvateil perceives them._  
> 

* * *

> **KERNEL STARTING…  
>  TARGET >TETSUYA_FEHU_KUROKO_SEIRIN/.  
> EXEC FLIP TOWER_OF_SEIRIN_PHANTASMAGORIA_III_**

  
There it is, that sinking feeling of ▋▅▇▇ ▐▐  


> **DIVE_TYPE: D.Dt.U [electronic oscillation]  
>  DIVE_PATTERN: potential difference  
> DEVICE: Internet Service  
> DATA_PATTERN: Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol  
> TRANS_ADDR: 111:1:041434::111.11.178  
> DEV_ADDR: 49.212.40.178**
> 
> **Trace route for your address . . .  
>  XXX_XXX_XXX_XXX**
> 
> **T-0 packet reached !!**
> 
> **HYMNOS CONCERTO TERMINAL DIVING system . . .  
>  DIVE_LV-1 S T A R T E D . . . **
> 
> **ENJOY YOUR DIVE !!**

  
Akashi jerks a▆▆▇▊

▄▉▆ELCOME, AKASHI SEIJURO.”

He’s floating.

The world beneath him is a carpet of colours. An exact overview from a bird’s eye—or God’s eye, to be exact. The introduction to a Reyvateil’s world always begins in this pattern: The Diver will be briefed by the Mind Guardian of the Reyvateil regarding the delicate network of the Cosmosphere; its unspoken rules, its basic guidelines, its consequences. For Akashi, they’re all just formalities, an introduction for a beginner before he starts exploring the Reyvateil’s inner world. 

But he’s no beginner. 

He’s a▊▆▅

“AKASHI SEIJURO?”

Slowly, he turns around. 

Before him, a dog floats too, but its intelligent blue eyes betray its true nature. Fluffy, black and white all over, it sports strangely patched eyebrows. Something about it feels like a dissonance from the smattering of hues under his feet, how it’s too serene to be considered just a dog, but then again, Akashi’s seen plenty. Just a floating dog isn’t enough to catch him off guard anymore. 

“I trust you’re Kuroko’s Mind Guardian?” he asks, crossing his legs midair. “Strange why he’d pick a dog.”

It opens its mouth in a bark, tongue flopping, but a deep voice penetrates through the skies. “YES I AM, BUT I AM NOT AN ORDINARY DOG. YOU MAY CALL ME NIGOU. I ACT AS HIS MIND GUARDIAN TO PREVENT INTRUDERS FROM MESSING UP THE BALANCE IN HIS COSMOSPHERE.”

“Thought as much. Pleasure to meet you then, Nigou.”

“NICE TO MEET YOU TOO, AKASHI SEIJURO,” it barks happily, wagging its tail. Parading around with its tiny paws, it circles Akashi once and stays in a spot again. Observing him, if anything. “YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON TO ENTER TETSUYA’S WORLD, SO I AM TASKED WITH SHOWING YOU HOW THIS PLACE WORKS. DO YOU NEED A BRIEFING?”

Akashi nods, then looks at the wondrous sight splayed underneath him. It doesn’t hurt taking a refreshment course in such things, because, really, the last thing he wants to do is to hurt Kuroko inadvertently from within. A damaged Reyvateil sullies his status as the former director of Rakuzan; he knows how to handle them like porcelains and to repair their cracks whenever needed. And Kuroko’s different, different from the rest of the Reyvateils he’s examined. Even far more fragile from within, he notes. 

“A REYVATEIL’S COSMOSPHERE CHANGES FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER,” Nigou explains. Its tail thumps in time with its words, brandished like a whip to reinforce his statement. “FOR NOW, WHAT YOU SEE IS JUST THE SURFACE OF HIS FEELINGS. IT IS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU DIVE DEEPER INTO HIM, YOU WILL SEE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF HIS WORLD. THESE THINGS ARE PURELY OUT OF HIS CONTROL SINCE THEY ARE HIS MOST GENUINE THOUGHTS.”

“Nothing different like the other Reyvateils?” Akashi asks, eyes roving over the landscape. While the breeze does feel good up there, something pulls his guts—his intuition’s acting up. And he doesn’t know what’s triggering it. “I thought there’d be something else he can offer.”

“REMEMBER, AKASHI SEIJURO, THE TETSUYA YOU SEE IN ALL LEVELS ARE NOT THE SAME TETSUYA YOU SEE OUTSIDE HIS COSMOSPHERE,” Nigou continues. “REYVATEILS ARE MUCH LIKE YOU HUMANS TOO. THERE ARE SOME PARTS OF HIMSELF HE DENIES, PARTS OF HIMSELF HE FINDS EMBARRASSING, PARTS OF HIMSELF HE REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE. THESE CHARACTERS ARE PURE CONCENTRATIONS OF HIS EMOTIONS; HE WILL BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY SINCE HE HAS NO CONTROL OVER HIS FEELINGS. YOUR TASK IS TO GUIDE HIM TO ACCEPT ALL OF HIMSELF TO BUILD A CONNECTION. YOU ARE IN HIM, AKASHI SEIJURO.”

“I understand.” He nods. “I appreciate Kuroko’s openly letting me enter him like this when I’m just a mercenary.”

That gives Nigou stars in his eyes and he begins scampering about happily with little barks. “YES! TETSUYA HAS ALWAYS BEEN KIND IN HIS NATURE. YOU NEED TO REMEMBER TO PROTECT HIM AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. IN THESE LEVELS, YOU WILL SEE HIS FEARS, HIS WILL, HIS DESIRES, AND YOU CAN INTERACT WITH IT TO PROVOKE A CHANGE IN HIMSELF. IF YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED, YOU WILL TRIGGER A PARADIGM SHIFT IN HIM. SOME SITUATIONS CAN BE RIDICULOUS AND DANGEROUS, BUT I CAN ALWAYS INTERFERE IF YOU FEEL YOU CAN’T PROCEED ANY LONGER.”

Akashi shakes his head and laughs quietly. “There’s no need, Nigou. I’m prepared to help all of the Tetsuya I’ll meet, even if it costs me. He wants to protect me and I can see that spirit in him, so I want to protect him well in return.”

“YOUR SPIRIT IS ADMIRABLE, AKASHI SEIJURO.” Nigou rolls over with excited pants, exposing his round white belly for all to see. “I AM HAPPY TETSUYA HAS A GOOD PARTNER. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BE GENTLE, IT IS HIS FIRST TIME AFTER ALL. I WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE TO LET YOU EXPLORE TETSUYA’S WORLD NOW; IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL ME. I WILL BE WATCHING▀▆▉▊

Before Akashi manages to blink, Nigou fractures into pixels and bursts into the sky blue background. 

Even with the additional explanation from Kuroko’s Mind Guardian, nothing settles the waves rolling in Akashi’s heart. He’s prepared but _something_ is waiting for him—he could feel it from within, how his heartbeat picks up and cold sweat starts dotting his forehead. Though, nothing comes up to explain what he’s feeling. Not yet, at least, he reasons with himself. 

Shaking it off, Akashi picks himself together and begins surveying the terrain critically. With an impressive view from above like this, it’s easier for him to settle on a location to begin his expedition. Northwards, an impressive stone castle towers over the trees, spiked with blue flags on the roof. Just a bit more southwards, he sees an actively bustling rose-coloured village swarming with villagers. A road, plucked clear of trees and grass, trails from the village all the way to an isolated cottage overlooking a tranquil pond. Nobody’s there. 

… well, at least he has a vague idea of the first pitstop. 

Akashi readies himself to jump over to the hut wh▇▇▅

> **▅▅▇S▇▇TEM_E▇ROR—INT▊RF▇RANCE▅▇**

**██GET OUT OF TETSUYA█HE IS MINE▅▅**

A sharp pain erupts from his skull, hitting him right through his brain. 

Kuroko’s Cosmosphere flickers erratically, bursting into life—pounding, bloated pixels dripping from the skies. Pieces of the clouds break the trees, smashing through and through into fine powders of nothing but pure static. Cracks rip through the ground, shaking the earth, and he hears shrill screaming coming from the villagers who’ve been torn apart by the world an█▇▅

**██YOU DON’T BELONG HERE█LEAVE▅TETSUYA IS MINE▅**

▆▆▆are you?” Akashi grits out through the searing pain circuiting his nerves alive. The dull jab to his lungs knocks all wind out of his chest and he falls on his knees, coughing at the pixels corroding his eyes, crawling into his sys▆em. “Tell ▆e▆▆▆o you w▆nt▆

**██TETSUYA IS MINE█LET ME TAKE OVER▅TETSUYA IS MINE▅**

> **███EJECT= >WAS::11x01█0011  
> ▇DOPLE  
> ▆Hyear▇Ma num ra▉▉yusya yorr dewee won clamour yor▉▅**

Akashi fi▇hts to keep on his f▇et but the el▇ctric statics shooting t▇rou▇h his v▇ins burns w▇th the intensity of fi▇e. The pain doesn’t damp▊n from his h▊ad—it’s amplified, ec██ing all through Ku█oko’s Co█mo██here l██ke a dark v█ice█chasing him_OUT█and nausea█bleEds frOm███s stOmach█as_h!s v!sio██pins !n rAp!d seq█e█ce█of█numb3rs███

**██TETSUYA IS MINE█▅TETSUYA IS MINE▅**   
**██TET▇UYA IS MINE█▅TE▇SUYA IS M▇NE▅**   
**██TETSUYA▇IS MINE█▅TET▇YA IS MINE▆**   
**██TETSUYA IS MINE█▅TETSUYA IS MINE▅**   
**██TETSUYA IS ▆INE█▅TE▆▆UYA IS M▆NE▅**

Co█ghing█ retch█ng, Akashi ▅▇▊█ ▅▆▇ ▊▋█ ▌▍▎▐ ▉▌▍▎▐ ▉ ▊▋▅▆▅▆ ▊▋█ ▌▅▆▅▆▅▆▋█▐ ▉▆▇ ▊█ ▌ ▅▆▇▇ ▊▋ ▅▆▇▇ ▊█ ▌ ▅▅▆▋▆▇ ▊▋▌▍▎▐ ▊▋▅▆ ▊▋█ ▅▆▇ ▊▋█ ▌▍▎▐ ▉ ▌ ▅▅▆▍▎▐ ▇ ▊▋█▇ ▊▋█ ▅▇ ▊█▅▆▋▆▇ ▊▋▆▇ ▊▊▋█ ▌▍▎. . . . DISC▇NNE▇▇ED_DIV▇R

> **DIVE_TYPE: ERROR  
>  DIVE_PATTERN: ERROR  
> DEVICE: ERROR  
> DATA_PATTERN: ERROR  
> TRANS_ADDR: ERROR  
> DEV_ADDR: ERROR**
> 
> **Trace route for your address . . .  
>  HELL-HA-HA-HA**
> 
> **T-0 packet removed !!**
> 
> **HYMNOS CONCERTO TERMINAL D YING system . . .  
> DIVE_LV-000000 E N D E D . . . **
> 
> **D I E D I E D I E D I E D I E D I E D I E D I E D I E D I E !!**

The world spins to black.

**██GOODBYE▇CORRUPTED_EMPEROR█**   
**▅TETSUYA IS MINE AG▇IN▅**   
**Rrha▆yea▆ra▆dsier▆yor▆rol▆clemezen**

* * *

>   
> **Mind Guardian, PT II:** _Mind Guardians are an essential defense mechanism in the Cosmosphere. Their task is to protect the minds of both the Reyvateil and the Diver. When Diving, there is a risk; both the minds of the Reyvateil and the Diver will become entwined. If this happens, they will both fall into a coma—or effectively **dead**. The Mind Guardians will prevent the Diver from accessing levels a Reyvateil isn’t prepared to show; if the Diver forces his way through to deeper levels, then both the Reyvateil and the Diver will be entwined under these circumstances—dead._  
> 

* * *

██ke up██

█e up!”

Kuroko’s eyes snap open. Blurriness smudge his vision—he’s wading through a stream of consciousness, a thin line separating his sleep and the data flowing through his mind. Blue, blue, and more blue balls of light—another smear, a pallid brown blob topped with a yellow mop shakes, then a blue-tipped darkness hits the yellow bit and there’s… incoherent shouting bouncing off the walls? He’s not certain what’s happening, everything feels like he’s gripping rubbery fantasy in his tiny hands. 

Weakly reaching out, Kuroko—

“—here, let me.”

A voice. 

He knows this one.

A familiar, not a stranger. 

Blue smudge and yellow bit both back away automatically, too fast to be humanlike or is it just his head playing with him? Someone finally hits play again, removing the slow-motion on his senses, and the numbness gradually fade away when a blearily outlined stick of black and red peek from the bottom. Warmth enveloped his hand, thumb caressing the back of his palm, fingers laced tightly together, leather and skin melting into one on contact. 

Kuroko smiles, weak. “Akashi-kun…?”

The redness moves closer. 

So close until Kuroko begins to defragment parts of his face; the flawless stretch of skin over his cheeks like dusted pinks over cashmere, the sloping curve of his nose bridge, eyebrows pinched together in concentration, balmy hot breath washing over Kuroko’s lips, the clean scent of old leather and sharp metal emanating from his body, thick strips of red hair tickling Kuroko’s forehead as they cascade curtain-like, fingers holding him close and tight and comforting, thick lashes framing his eyes—glassy, beautiful eyes of crimson and sensual gold. 

… _gold_?

“How do you feel?

Kuroko picks up a voice—he’s heard of it before, the weight of concern always in tailored in his sentences, but this one is off. Not the pitch, not the quality, not the nature. Everything is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, _wrong_.

“Open your eyes, look at me—“

██rong, wrong, wrong, it doesn’t sound righ▌

The hand over his tightens.

“—look at me.”

A thumb and a forefinger digs into his chin, holding his head in place. Rapidly blinking away the haze obscuring his sight, Kuroko’s breath hitches when everything sharpens painfully; half-lidded eyes gazing at him intently, picking him apart, red and gold—gold that does not belong there on Akashi’s left eye. 

And there’s a smile on his face. 

A thin smile devoid of emotions. 

“I’m relieved you’re alive, _Tetsuya_ ▅▆▇

> **AKASHI_SEIJURO_DISCONNECTED . . .**

**Author's Note:**

> _I think I should include a basic summary of each episode to explain what happened. @u@;; the terminologies aren’t important actually, and neither is the game or the Ar Tonelico universe; you can just read the story on its own. it’s just that i provided the terminologies to make things clearer._
>
>>   
> **EXEC_EROS=FLIPSPHERE:**  
>  So Kuroko wakes up from fainting and finds out they’re already near SHIN-Juku. He expresses his wish to protect Akashi, so he invites Akashi to Dive into him to make a new Song Magic so they could fight together. Akashi, at first, is reluctant—then he relents. Upon arriving in SHIN-Juku’s Dive Shop, however, they meet Aomine and Kise, who tailed them all the` way from Kanagawa. They’re persistently asking Akashi to let them come along to send Kuroko to Rakuzan. 
>> 
>> As much as Akashi doesn’t want them to come, they’re definitely going to do stupider things to tag along so he gives in. Then, Akashi begins Diving into Kuroko’s mind to help him build a new Song Magic. 
>> 
>> Inside Kuroko’s Cosmosphere (mind), Akashi meets Nigou—a dog, acting as Kuroko’s Mind Guardian. Nigou explains how the world is laid out and what objectives Akashi is supposed to achieve in Kuroko. After Nigou leaves, Akashi sets on a destination to go—but then he comes under attack from internal forces (oooh spooky creepy), causing his Diving processes to encounter errors. Akashi is then rejected from the Dive. 
>> 
>> Then Kuroko wakes up from the Dive, feeling dizzy. He recognises Akashi and feels relieved to see him make out of the Dive alive. But yeeeee (we need drama and plot development), and it’s Akashi who returns but not exactly Akashi—hello Bokushi, bye Oreshi. (yes this is plot, don’t worry.)
> 
> _So yeah, thank you for reading everyone, I hope this instalment was fun to read! Comments/kudos/questions are always appreciated ;D_


End file.
